Race for the prize

From European Voice's Entre-Nous column

5/31/11, 9:02 PM CET

Updated 4/23/14, 9:10 PM CET

A lunch appointment with a difference.

The chairman of the European Parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee – known as IMCO – has taken a highly personal approach to increasing the level of interest in the committee’s work.

Malcolm Harbour, a British Conservative MEP, is keen to boost the membership of the “friends of IMCO network”, whose chief benefit seems to consist of receiving a regular newsletter about the committee’s work. Harbour’s ambition is not excessive: he is aiming to increase the “friends” from 1,370 to 1,500.

But his commitment – and his grasp of modern marketing – is awesome: he has declared that the lucky 1,500th “friend” to sign up will receive a prize of lunch with Malcolm Harbour.